[Web4lib] del.icio.us tags and bookmarking sites -- WHY DOIT?

[Karen Coyle]

Connotea is an interesting example of the lack of a controlled 
vocabulary, actually. It allows folks to assign any term to their links. 
Look at it today and the top two links are:
  AvianFlu
  avian flu

I think the main concept behind these services is that they are totally 
non-precise -- it's all about serendipity. I guess that's what "social" 
means. ;-)

kc

Levine, Jenny wrote:

>	I second Karen's explanation, although I think the most interesting application in the library world would be in our catalogs. Imagine allowing the user to "bookmark" items of interesting using their own vocabularies. Not only would it be easier for them to save and retrieve them, but they could build some interesting bibliographies/read-alikes using the social aspects of tagging.
>	Also, Connotea (http://www.connotea.org/) and CiteULike (http://www.citeulike.org/) provide interesting examples of social bookmark managers in academia. They could be a future version of online citation indexes, and libraries could help with that.
>
>Jenny
>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
>Jenny Levine
>Internet Development Specialist
>Metropolitan Library System
>http://www.mls.lib.il.us/
>125 Tower Dr., Burr Ridge, IL  60527
>AIM: cybrarygal
>levinej at mls.lib.il.us
>+1 (630) 734 5141
> 
>
>  
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
>>[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org]On Behalf Of Karen Harker
>>Sent: Monday, May 23, 2005 9:31 AM
>>To: web4lib at webjunction.org
>>Subject: Re: [Web4lib] del.icio.us tags and bookmarking sites -- WHY
>>DOIT?
>>
>>
>>The main potential I see is a mapping system whereby 
>>descriptive data actually entered by users is mapped to 
>>controlled vocabulary, thus enabling greater recall, although 
>>precision would suffer.  However, I really wonder how much 
>>our users would actually contribute directly to the 
>>description of resources.  A better system may be one which 
>>ties keywords entered by users to those resources chosen from 
>>the results list. But there are still flaws in that method.  
>>
>>I think it could prove to be a good data source to study how 
>>people describe things (topic, format, slang, proper nouns, 
>>broad, narrow, etc.).  
>>
>>
>>
>>Karen R. Harker, MLS
>>UT Southwestern Medical Library
>>5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
>>Dallas, TX  75390-9049
>>214-648-8946
>>http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/library/
>>
>>    
>>
>>>>>"Drew, Bill" <drewwe at MORRISVILLE.EDU> 5/23/2005 9:13:45 AM >>>
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>I posted this to my blog this morning.   I would really like to know
>>this stuff but I am having a hard time getting the importance 
>>of it from
>>what I have read so far.
>> 
>>I may be missing the boat here but I do not really understand the
>>significance given by Steven Cohen and others to del.icio.us tags,
>>folksonomies, and bookmarking sites. Would someone please 
>>explain it to
>>me?
>>
>>Del.icio.us tags and bookmarking sites are not yet reflected in any
>>search engines that I know of. Until they are, how will they improve
>>peoples ability to find information? I looked at del.icio.us 
>>and find it
>>of no real value to me. If it is of potential value to me and to our
>>students and faculty at Morrisville College, please tell me 
>>how in plain
>>language. 
>>
>>Why should I care what tags someone puts on my website or blog? Are
>>there any scientific studies of how people use tags?
>>
>>Are tags and bookmarking sites just a passing fad? 
>> 
>>Bill Drew
>>drewwe at morrisville.edu 
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>>    
>>
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-- 
-----------------------------------
Karen Coyle / Digital Library Consultant
kcoyle at kcoyle.net http://www.kcoyle.net
ph.: 510-540-7596
fx.: 510-848-3913
mo.: 510-435-8234
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